When the individual has completed their business, the individual returns to the valet stand to retrieve their vehicle. The individual provides the paper ticket to the valet and the valet finds the matching paper ticket attached to the key to the vehicle in the key storage area. Having recovered the key, the valet sets off to find and retrieve the vehicle for the individual. The valet returns to the valet stand with the vehicle and the individual is able to get back into the vehicle and drive off. The individual generally pays for this service at the time the vehicle is retrieved or at some other point while the vehicle is in the care of the valet. Many times, an individual may also tip a valet for retrieving their vehicle. Typically, the payments to the valet for the convenience of having the valet park the vehicle and the tip are made by cash. There are some instances when the payment of the valet service may be added to other charges, for example, hotels often add the cost of the valet service to the hotel bill for anyone purchasing a room at the hotel. Although hotels may offer this type of payment opportunity, there are many other establishments, such as stores and restaurants that offer valet services but do not have the opportunity to add the charges for valet services to an existing open bill such as a hotel bill. Generally, all tips are paid by cash.
Often, the above may be a seamless and painless convenient transfer of the vehicle from the individual to the valet to the parking lot and back to the individual once again when their business is complete. However, there are several issues with the present system. An individual may arrive at a destination only to find out that there are no valet parking spaces available at a particular establishment. By the time the individual arrives at a destination only to find there are no parking spaces, it is to late to change plans or to make other arrangements.
Further, an individual may be provided with a paper ticket upon arrival at a destination, but may lose the paper ticket at some point during the valet parking time period. Upon returning to the valet stand to retrieve their vehicle, the individual does not have the paper ticket or any other readily available proof to provide to the valet that the vehicle being retrieved actually belongs to the individual. If another individual finds the ticket, that individual may present the paper ticket to the valet to retrieve the original owner's vehicle, thereby stealing the original owner's vehicle.
If the individual convinces the valet that the vehicle in question actually belongs to the individual, the valet must take the time to go through all the keys at the valet stand to find the correct set of keys. This puts the valet behind with helping other customers and may cost the individual added funds to retrieve their vehicle. Also, the valet may lose the paper ticket, add the paper ticket to the wrong set of keys or incorrectly write down information on the ticket that will result in delays to retrieve the vehicle for the individual.
A further disadvantage of the present valet parking system is that the customer may have to wait in line to retrieve their vehicle. If a number of people are leaving an establishment at the same time, for example, a performance at a theater has ended and a number of people are leaving at the same time, there will be a number of people at the valet stand waiting to retrieve their vehicles. It may take the valet several minutes to possibly an hour or more to find, retrieve the vehicle and return the vehicle to the rightful owner. If you add the possibility of lost tickets, misplaced keys and the like to the chaos of a number of people all wanting their vehicle at the same time, the time to retrieve the vehicles make extend even longer.
Traditionally, the payment for valet services has been made with cash. However, many individuals are no longer carrying cash and are relying on the use of credit and debit cards to may everyday purchases. More and more people are also adding the ability to access and make payments to their credit and debit cards through their smartphone. While companies offering valet services have the ability to receive credit card and debit card payments, it is often cumbersome to do so. The valet must swipe a card or scan a phone for each person that is using the valet services, taking more time than receiving cash. This puts the valet behind when parking or retrieving vehicles especially if there are a number of individuals waiting for their vehicle. Further, valets doing the work of parking and retrieving vehicles are missing out on added income because tips, incentives to valets that work hard and had been paid for in cash and directly to the valet retrieving the vehicle, may be paid by credit card or debit card. Paying tips by credit card or debit card requires that all collected tips may have to be to shared amongst all valets, some not working as hard as others. Lastly, paying for valet services by credit or debit card may result in no tip at all.
Therefore, a need exists for a system and method for valet parking services that will allow an individual to reserve a valet parking spot ahead of arriving at their destination. A need exists for the system and method for valet parking services to ensure that a proper record of the individual, the individual's vehicle and payment method are kept in a secure database for ease of retrieval when reserving a valet parking space. The system and method will also ensure that there is no requirement for a paper ticket and, therefore, no means to lose, misplace, or capture incorrect information on the paper ticket. Further, a need exists for the system and method that will enable an individual to request their vehicle at a specified time for retrieval and know, prior to arriving at the valet stand, how much time it will take to retrieve the vehicle and whether the vehicle has arrived at the stand. Still further, a need exists for a system and method for valet parking services that will ensure a seamless payment or transaction without the use of cash that will enable payment for valet services and any tips through alternative means without disrupting the flow of parking and retrieving vehicles in a timely manner.